The Penetration Testing Methodology

Ethical hacking follows a repeatable methodology: Reconnaissance → Enumeration → Exploitation → Privilege Escalation → Post-Exploitation → Reporting. OSCP drills this until it is muscle memory.

Reconnaissance gathers information (passive: OSINT, WHOIS, certificate transparency; active: scanning). Enumeration is deeper: services, versions, users, shares. "Enumerate harder" is the single most repeated OSCP mantra.

Exploitation turns a finding into access. Privilege escalation turns limited access into full control by abusing misconfigurations, weak permissions, or kernel bugs.

The report is the actual deliverable. A brilliant exploit is worthless to a client if not documented with clear reproduction steps and remediation advice. Always operate only with explicit written authorisation.